Supreme Court freezes government’s ban on foreign aid groups in Gaza and West Bank

The Supreme Court decides in a ruling published Friday that a government ban on 37 foreign NGOs working in Gaza and the West Bank will be frozen until it reaches a final decision.

“Without taking any position, a temporary interim order is hereby issued,” the court says in a ruling responding to a petition from the NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Oxfam, seeking to reverse the ban after Israel’s government revoked their status in Israel.

The aid groups say sharing staff information could pose a safety risk given that hundreds of aid workers have been killed or injured during the war in Gaza. Israel has said the registrations were meant to prevent diversions of aid by Palestinian terrorist groups. Humanitarian agencies dispute that substantial aid has been diverted.

Athena Rayburn, executive director of the Association of International Development Agencies, says they are “still waiting to see how the injunction will be interpreted by the state and whether or not this will mean an increase in our ability to operate,” adding that the situation inside Gaza remained “catastrophic.”

Spokespeople for Israel’s government don’t immediately respond to requests for comment.